Start from what the role costs you fully loaded rather than from salary. Employer taxes, benefits, tooling, and the time senior people spend supporting a junior are all part of the number, and a rate that looks affordable as a salary can be considerably less so once delivered.
The turnover cost is the part most providers underestimate. Replacing a first-line technician means recruiting, onboarding, and a period during which a more expensive person absorbs their tickets — and it happens again if the new hire leaves for the same reason. Paying under the local market is often the more expensive option once that cycle is counted.
What holds people at this level is usually a path more than a number. First-line work is repetitive by design, and a technician who can see what the next rung pays and what it takes to reach it will tolerate a year of it. One who cannot will leave for a marginal increase, and the increase is rarely why.
So the useful exercise is not finding a benchmark. It is knowing what the role costs you loaded, what it costs you to replace, and what the next step looks like from the chair — and setting the number where those three agree.